Office Documents Open in Internet Explorer

ID: Q162059

The information in this article applies to:
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

When you click a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) link to a Microsoft Office file (such as a Microsoft Excel document), Internet Explorer may open the file in the browser instead of opening it in the appropriate Office program.


CAUSE

This behavior occurs when Internet Explorer is configured to host documents for Office programs that are installed on the computer. Internet Explorer is configured in this manner by default.


RESOLUTION

To configure Internet Explorer to open Office files in the appropriate Office program instead of in the browser, follow the steps in the appropriate section below.

Windows 95, Windows 98

  1. Double-click My Computer.


  2. On the View menu, click Options (or Folder Options).


  3. Click the File Types tab.


  4. In the Registered File Types box, click the specific Office document type (for example, Microsoft Excel Worksheet), and then click Edit.


  5. In Internet Explorer 3.01, 3.02, or 3.02a, click the Open Web Documents In Place check box to clear it. In Internet Explorer 4.0, 4.01, or 5, click the Browse In Same Window check box to clear it.

    NOTE: This check box is not available if you are running Internet Explorer version 3.0. If you are running Internet Explorer 3.0, upgrade to Internet Explorer 3.02 or later. For information about obtaining the latest version of Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
    http://www.microsoft.com/ie/download


  6. Click OK.


Windows NT

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).


  1. Start Registry Editor and locate the following registry key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes


  2. Under this key, locate the appropriate subkey for the specific Office document type. The following table lists the appropriate subkey for several common Office document types: 
    
Document type                               Subkey
   ----------------------------------------------------------------
   Microsoft Access 7.0 database application   Access.Application.7
   Microsoft Access 97 database application    Access.Application.8
   Microsoft Excel 7.0 worksheet               Excel.Sheet.5
   Microsoft Excel 97 worksheet                Excel.Sheet.8
   Microsoft Word 7.0 document                 Word.Document.6
   Microsoft Word 97 document                  Word.Document.8
   Microsoft PowerPoint 7.0 presentation       PowerPoint.Show.7
   Microsoft PowerPoint 97 presentation        PowerPoint.Show.8
   Microsoft Project 98 project                MSProject.Project.8
    To locate the appropriate subkey for a document type that is not in this table, find the subkey for the extension associated with the document type. The (default) value for that subkey contains the name of the appropriate subkey for that document type.

    For example, the .xls extension is associated with Microsoft Excel worksheets. Under the .xls subkey, the (default) value contains the string "Excel.Sheet.5." Therefore, the Excel.Sheet.5 subkey is the appropriate subkey for the Microsoft Excel Worksheet document type.


  3. After you identify the appropriate subkey, click the subkey, click Add Value on the Edit menu, and then add the following value:
    Value name: BrowserFlags
    Data type: REG_DWORD
    Value: 8


  4. Click OK, and then quit Registry Editor.


Additional query words: ie301 Doc Obj Hosting in-place activation 


Keywords          : msiew95 msient msiew98 
Version           : WINDOWS:3.01,3.02,4.0,4.01,4.01 Service Pack 1,4.01 Service Pack 2,5
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: June 24, 1999